Rude Red Foot or Normal Behavior?

daniellenc

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My little Skurt is approximately a year old and has been with us since June of last year. When he first came home he would hiss when I removed him from his hide to soak and eat, but I blew it off as being a baby in a new home with a new big human messing with him. This behavior carried on for a maybe a week or two and eventually stopped. Currently when I go in to mist/soak/feed he actually comes out of his hide on his own and is fine with being picked up.

Lately, now that he is older I have been trying to "pet" him more and hand feed him.........definitely is not interested in either, lol. Other than basic handling to and from his soak bin he hisses and not the scared hiss he displayed as a baby. He sticks his neck waaaaay out to say back off lady!! So I take this as a sign of stress and back off, but should I still continue to try and pet/feed him by hand or wait until he's older? I see all these pictures of tortoises being rubbed and fed and feel left out, lol. He either really hates me, or is rude!!
 

ascott

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My little Skurt is approximately a year old and has been with us since June of last year. When he first came home he would hiss when I removed him from his hide to soak and eat, but I blew it off as being a baby in a new home with a new big human messing with him. This behavior carried on for a maybe a week or two and eventually stopped. Currently when I go in to mist/soak/feed he actually comes out of his hide on his own and is fine with being picked up.

Lately, now that he is older I have been trying to "pet" him more and hand feed him.........definitely is not interested in either, lol. Other than basic handling to and from his soak bin he hisses and not the scared hiss he displayed as a baby. He sticks his neck waaaaay out to say back off lady!! So I take this as a sign of stress and back off, but should I still continue to try and pet/feed him by hand or wait until he's older? I see all these pictures of tortoises being rubbed and fed and feel left out, lol. He either really hates me, or is rude!!

Tortoise don't "hiss" like a snake would....but what you are hearing is the quick expel of air as more of a startle reaction (humans move waaaay to abruptly for your average tortoise). Some torts like human attention (well, they likely eventually relate to the "treat" part of the human encounter) and others would live life just fine if we would only serve their housing and food needs and not bug them otherwise.....hard to tell....tortoise can take awhile to show their actual personality so be patient and routine and see what happens...but certainly don't allow your feelings to be hurt if you should have a more of a nomad type in your presence..
 

daniellenc

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Tortoise don't "hiss" like a snake would....but what you are hearing is the quick expel of air as more of a startle reaction (humans move waaaay to abruptly for your average tortoise). Some torts like human attention (well, they likely eventually relate to the "treat" part of the human encounter) and others would live life just fine if we would only serve their housing and food needs and not bug them otherwise.....hard to tell....tortoise can take awhile to show their actual personality so be patient and routine and see what happens...but certainly don't allow your feelings to be hurt if you should have a more of a nomad type in your presence..


Well the little ingrate could at least let me sneak a pet here and there. I am aware they're not social animals and I don't want to love him and squeeze like Lenny, but I do hope with age he becomes more relaxed with a bit of contact.
 

TammyJ

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The slower you move around them, the less likely it is that they will have scared reactions. When you approach them, move your hands slowly and at the level of their head, from the side rather than from above, as much as is possible, letting them know you are there before you "grab" them up. Try gently touching them on the head or leg before picking them up...that's what I try to do and I think it is working. And I speak while I am doing it.
 

TammyJ

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Also, when carrying them here and there, I use a big plastic tub rather than holding them in my hand the entire trip inside/outside.
 

ascott

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Well the little ingrate could at least let me sneak a pet here and there. I am aware they're not social animals and I don't want to love him and squeeze like Lenny, but I do hope with age he becomes more relaxed with a bit of contact.
Laughing my A off....I have always loved that word....Ingrate....and yes, it can feel like that for sure some days....
 

Reptilian Feline

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Tank Girl is a bit defensive about her head. She will quickly pull it inside, expelling air, but now that she is used to us, her head will come back out as quickly as it went inside, when she notice who it is. She reaches for her treats, sometimes even waving a front leg (started with her trying to get closer to the treat) and will happily accept a back end rub/scratch.
Embers is the smaller one, and they have always been happy to greet you, and rarely will pull in their head when you appoach. Back end rubs/scratches are always appreciated.

I think that most torts will accept treats and back end scratches, but none of mine are that happy about being a "lap dog". Embers will accept it though, being so much smaller.
 

drew54

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I think many people get confused about reptiles and social behavior. Reptiles are just as social as we are, but that doesn't mean they are like mammals. They communicate in various ways as we do. Some like interacting and some don't much like humans and other animals.

The key to getting your animal to interact positively with you is you must first understand their behavior and social hierarchies. Know what they view as aggression or friendly behaviors. Know what behaviors signals what response.

We all can tell when our tort ous comfortable. They are sprawled out soaking up the rays or during a warm soak. Or they are rhythmically breathing with their heads slightly extended just relaxing.

A shy tort will hide and be note defensive and will respond negatively to fast threatening movements.

Aggression is accompanied by biting, ramming , and fast head bobbing.

Curiosity could be accompanied by touching noses and slow slight head bobbing. Touching noises could also be a sign of aggression.

There are many other ways they communicate to us their needs.
Get to know your little dude and how he responds to you and his environment. Just like any human or animal our behavior tells what we need, our current and overall mental state, health, etc.
 

drew54

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Watch their posture and movements. A tort patrolling its enclosure in the same pattern and posture tells us much about their current state of mind and gives us an idea of what emotional and/or instinctual responses to expect.

There is still a lot to learn allot their behaviors, but much of it has been researched and studied for us non tort experts.
 

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Some of my Redfoot have been a little less concerned about me and what I'm doing. Some have always recoiled in fear no matter what. So I'm convinced that some are more hard wired to the genetic response and others are able to better grasp a learned response.
Maybe what I think sums it up best is for those of us that ever owned snakes....Some individuals of the same species in the same clutch act "tame". Seeming to not care at all about being handled. And some will continue to bite you and display aggressive behavior no matter what you do. No matter how long you try.
Tortoises are similar.
My 9 year old female RF does not like me. Not at all. She does not want to be picked up and does not want me to touch her. I've been here with her her entire life. She withdraws her head and stays there.
But of her two "sisters", one of them seemed to greet me and seemed to like to be touched. She'd eat out of my hand and I'm pretty sure I could've lifted her over my head and spun her around in the air by her tail and she wouldn't have noticed or cared. The third would start pooping like crazy. Kicking her legs and violently try to get away if I tried to pick her up.
So while interacting with a tortoise at the earliest age possible is probably the best idea. The outcome will not be the same in any case.
In general, it seems that most tortoises will figure out that you mean FOOD. But don't hope for more. You may get more. You might not.
 

TammyJ

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Daniellenc, you started this thread in April and it's November. What if any progress on this little ingrate?
 

daniellenc

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He hasn’t changed much with head petting and neck rubs unless he’s being soaked then he stretches out like a king lol. He does enjoy a butt scratch and will eat favorite foods from my hand but I wouldn’t say craves rubs. He’s always out when I open his tank and races to his food bowl expecting new food. He even comes out when I come in the room thinking I’m delivering yummy food so not shy at all.

I have to admit other than soaking and cage cleaning we don’t handle him a ton though so maybe with effort he’d enjoy human snuggles more but for now I get the evil eye and he marches off if I’m not bearing fruit in hand lol.
 

Hoodoo_man

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Hi! Male RF's are a little less sociable than females. Have you tried bribing him? When I had to spend a few months living with my parents last year, my RF's became attached to my Mom (running over to her and extending their necks) because she threw them cherry tomatoes (which was progress for my Mom, who doesn't like reptiles), now they don't remember her much, unless she has tomatoes. My RF's are also partial to toothbrush on the shell, while still in their enclosure. If you hit the right place, they do the tortoise-butt-dance. If you keep him in his enclosure while trying to interact with him, he may feel less stressed. Be careful as they get older, though. My RF's used to be able to be hand-fed treats pretty easily-they would nip at your fingers, but stop once they realized what they were doing. I think they don't recognize their own strength. One of mine could not tell the difference between shrimp and shrimp-flavored fingers and gave my wife a nasty bite. They get a little freaked coming out of their enclosures, so if you can start by interacting with him without taking him out, that might help.
Good luck, and it sounds like you have an interesting guy!
 

ZEROPILOT

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I'm pretty sure that my Redfoot that tries to eat my feet and has removed several chunks out of several if my shoes knows exactly who I am and exactly what she is doing.;)
She's just in charge of that enclosure. And doesn't like intruders.
I'm also pretty sure she'd be fine with eating my fingers. Or toes.
 

LaLaP

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I've observed an interesting behavior change in a Russian that I rescued a few months ago. He lived 13 years in a tiny enclosure, handled roughly by children and adults, molested by playful cats and was never given water or soaked. He was a neurotic pacer and afraid of people when I got him. I put him in a nice big enclosure and only picked him up to soak him (daily). At first he was afraid of the water but quickly began to love a soak. He loves it so much that he self soaks in his water dish several times a day. The big change is that he began to come to me when I would approach his enclosure. One day I layed my hand down with the palm up and after some thinking and sniffing he climbed aboard. Now when I approach he comes to me and I put my hand down he will climb in and I'll take him for a slow walk around the house. He stays in my hand and just looks at everything. I assume he likes these strolls because he keeps climbing in my hand. He also doesn't struggle and kick when I pick him up like he used to and he doesn't pace often.
His whole world changed and he has transformed but I think the most interesting part is that the reward of something he likes (a soak in this case) has taught him the behavior of climbing into my hand. So at least in his case I was able to (quite by accident) teach him to be more "friendly".
 

ZEROPILOT

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I've observed an interesting behavior change in a Russian that I rescued a few months ago. He lived 13 years in a tiny enclosure, handled roughly by children and adults, molested by playful cats and was never given water or soaked. He was a neurotic pacer and afraid of people when I got him. I put him in a nice big enclosure and only picked him up to soak him (daily). At first he was afraid of the water but quickly began to love a soak. He loves it so much that he self soaks in his water dish several times a day. The big change is that he began to come to me when I would approach his enclosure. One day I layed my hand down with the palm up and after some thinking and sniffing he climbed aboard. Now when I approach he comes to me and I put my hand down he will climb in and I'll take him for a slow walk around the house. He stays in my hand and just looks at everything. I assume he likes these strolls because he keeps climbing in my hand. He also doesn't struggle and kick when I pick him up like he used to and he doesn't pace often.
His whole world changed and he has transformed but I think the most interesting part is that the reward of something he likes (a soak in this case) has taught him the behavior of climbing into my hand. So at least in his case I was able to (quite by accident) teach him to be more "friendly".
Very nice. And some keepers have indeed reported a trust or a bond with their tortoises.
 

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